An Exodus
by TheSwiftOne
Summary: She's been gone for five years. Now she has returned and must face her team after years of being away. Beast Boy x Raven.


An Exodus

By: TheSwiftOne

Disclaimer: I claim no rights to Teen Titans or any characters herein. All rights belong to DC Comics.

As she sprinted through the jungle, she wondered whether or not he was really going to be waiting on her or not. She began to wonder whether or not the team would really accept her back after such a long exodus. She was never really the most social member but she felt that she would always have they're backs. She could see the end of the forest now but could not make out any person or animal shaped silhouette, he must not have been able to make it. Or they found out where he was going and wouldn't let him meet her.

As he waited for any shape to emerge from the forest he silently wondered whether or not they could really do this. She had been gone for so long and the team, took a real hit when she left. Robin, now Nightwing, was furious. He was now harsher on the entire team, especially Starfire after the breakup between them. Starfire was devastated, never really being the same afterwards. Cyborg, well he was still Cyborg, atheist on the surface. Since the self-exodus of his self-proclaimed little sister, he wasn't the same, the T-Car fell into disrepair as did the rest of the T vehicles, even parts of the tower.

Now he couldn't help but think of how he had changed since she had left. He no longer went by the name of Beast Boy, deciding that having grown out of the name some years ago it was time for a change. He now went by the more heroic name of Changeling. These long years have been both kind and not so kind to him and the rest of the team. He had grown several inches now being the second tallest of the team, just after Cyborg's gargantuan 6 foot 6 inch frame, at 6 foot 3 inches and followed by Nightwing's 6 foot 1 inch height. He was now riddled with scars and still healing wounds. The worst of them being the menacing gash across his face, from his left jaw to his right temple. That's the scar that reminds him why he does his job every day, given to him while saving a young mother and her child from Slade Wilson now going by his old alias from Gotham city, Deathstroke the Terminator.

The others had changed too, more than he would hope to imagine, more than what he thought would be possible. Nightwing was taller and had adopted a frame more like The Batman, large and imposing upon his victims. He had spent one of the years since She left away from the team, a time when Changeling thought they would have fallen apart, to fight the more dangerous crime in a town just north of Gotham known as Bludhaven. That was when Slade had reverted to using his old alias of Deathstroke the Terminator, following Nightwing to Bludhaven leaving Jump City for the upstart villains.

Starfire hadn't changed much, until Nightwing had left the team. Gone was the naive off worlder wearing only a skimpy skirt and top, only to be replaced by a ruthless warrior truly deserving of the title Princess of Tamaran. Her torso now covered by an ornate, sleeveless battle plate and sleek gauntlets. While her lower body was protected by heavy metal greaves and a thick pair of black leather pants, matching the tones of her other armor. But, what had stunned changeling the most was that even after Nightwing returned, the once playful princess did not.

Now Cyborg, Cyborg had changed probably the least of them all, at least cosmetically. Sure he had replaced some of his more outdated parts, but they were still bulky, and the faint blue glow that always seemed to make him stand out in a crowd was no longer there. His blue glow that seemed to brighten along with his mood seemed to just vanish one day. His moods would vary between a deep depression while at the tower, and a fierce mentality while fighting crime. He had long since stopped playing video games, long since stopped sparking arguments between himself and Changeling over what to have for breakfast or lunch. Changeling had come to feel that this was the final nail in the coffin that times in the tower would never be the same ever again.

Looking back now while waiting and hoping that a figure would emerge soon, Changeling realized that none of them were kids, or even teenagers anymore. Cyborg was now 26, Nightwing was 25, Starfire was 24, and he himself had just reached the monument of 23 not too long ago. It had been eight years since they had defeated the Brotherhood of Evil, and five excruciating years since the girl he had grown to love over the years had left him and the team behind. He silently wondered where she had gone and what she had done when she went away on her self-inflicted exodus.

As she was nearing what she hoped was the end of the forest, she took the time to reflect on the past actions, the things that brought her into this situation. The things that brought her into her exodus. Six years ago she never would have imagined that she would be in this situation. She was just beginning to acknowledge the feelings she was having for the green shape shifter. She had just begun to be able to express certain feelings, feelings like Love and Happiness. It devastated her when a little over a year after that that things would go begin to decline, on the day that her and Beast Boy had officially became a couple.

The day had started simple enough, wake up, have a cup of tea, meditate, venture into the common room just as everyone else had started file in. The first one had been Robin, as per his normal routine. Then Cyborg filed through still waking up from a cold start. Starfire followed not too long after, gliding over to her at the time boyfriend giving him a good morning kiss as he drank his coffee while reading the newspaper searching for any leads to any unsolved crimes they had. Finally Beast Boy came through wandering as if in a daze, slightly zombie like in his motions. She looked at him analyzing him as if she were a predator stalking her prey. She knew though, why he was in such a zombie like state even if the others didn't. Last night had been a first for them both. As they came home from patrol she had gotten an urge, an urge that not even she knew where it came from. As they stepped into the elevator she had kissed him. Not a simple peck on the cheek, but full mouth to mouth contact. As soon as she realized what she did she teleported away off to her room to consult her rampant emotions, on just what the hell had happened.

Arriving in her room she looked frantically for the mirror that lead into her mindscape. She huffed in annoyance when she couldn't find it. She knew it couldn't have just gotten up and walked away, someone was in here earlier and she knew it. Finally she had resigned herself to access her mind through meditation, it took her a little longer but she would get there eventually. She sat atop her bed quietly chanting her mantra in a slow and steady pace, quickly falling into the rhythm that was all too familiar to her. Feeling the tug on the back of her mind she accepted it, giving into the falling sensation that it caused. Closing her eyes the room faded from around her, when she opened them again she was in the familiar surroundings of her mindscape, Nevermore.

Glancing around for a moment to get her bearings she took off, flying towards where she felt the strongest gathering of emotions. Arriving at the source, of which she determined to be Knowledge's domain in the library of her mind. She could see most of her emotions sitting around a large, circular wooden table, she thought it was funny slightly reminiscent of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.

"I'm glad everyone is here now. I have gathered you all because of what happened tonight, I want to know which of you caused it." She said looking pointedly at her violet cloaked emotion Love. It was as if she knew but wanted to be sure.

The emotion looked at her with a sly, knowing smile. "Why yes, dear Raven I did give you the impulse, but I did not act alone." She stated knowing she was going to drag her other emotions into this "Brave was the one that compounded upon the feeling and made you kiss him. We knew what we were doing and we would have done it either way whether you said we could or not."

Raven was stunned, never had her emotions acted so rash, not even Brave. "Why? That's all I want to know. Is why you made me kiss him when you know what my powers could do to anyone in the tower? You could have made me kill him." She was furious with the emotions now, she had had it with them always trying to force themselves out of her psyche and into her life. "I have had it with…" a loud smack echoed through the library.

"Raven. You need to be quiet. Now. We have had it with always denying us. We are a part of you. You are a part of us. We are all one and it is high time we became one." Knowledge stated. "It's time we started the ritual that was supposed to be done last year. We need to focus our powers, not divide them. It's high time we put aside our differences so that you could achieve the control over your powers that should have come when we defeated Trigon." As she spoke her voice became more and more fierce.

Figuring that arguing anymore she relented. Allowing the other emotions to get closer to her, she held her arms and began chanting her mantra. Knowledge was the first to approach chanting the mantra in sync with Raven and the other emotions. Azarath….Metrion….Zynthos was the only thing could be heard in the room aside from the slowly increasing tempo of their footsteps. Once everyone was in position Raven's chakra began to glow. The illumination casting shadows across the book shelves as the sconces on the wall providing light faded out. As the glow intensified, so did the chanting. Finally, once the last emotions chakra had lit, they began to levitate into the air spinning around Raven before finally converging into her chakra.

As they made the final descent into her chakra she was forcefully expelled from her mind landing back on her bed. As her vision focused she heard a loud crack under her pillow, turning to see what had made the noise she found her mirror that led into her mindscape shattered beyond repair. Her mood became sullen at that, knowing she would never be able to return to her mindscape to solve her problems. As she gained her footing off of her bed she finally felt the power that was now coursing through her. It felt magnificent, she felt complete, like she would finally be able to feel something towards the person that she felt something towards.

The next few days were strange to say the least. Everyone had noticed how her mood had changed, especially the shape shifter. What had changed it all was when the first alarm had gone off since this had happened. It was supposed to be a simple bank robbery, in and out wave for the press and be done with it. Robin had sent her and Beast Boy in to get the doors open as Starfire and Cyborg created a distraction. Raven wrenched the vent open for Beast Boy to sneak through as a mongoose, as he fell through the vent into the manager's office Raven had just phased through the adjoining wall.

"Gee Rae, if you could have done that then…" before he could speak anymore he flung himself in front of her just barely blocking a bullet that was meant for her head. More shots rang out as raven managed to raise a shield around her and Beast Boy and she could vaguely hear the sounds of starbolts and sonic cannon shots going off in the lobby. But she was focused more on the man behind her holding the pistol aimed at her head through her shield. Looking down at Beast Boy's body she could tell he was losing blood fast. She had to act quickly, lowering the shield she focused her power at the man with the gun. She had underestimated her own power, her power had wrapped around him too strongly shattering his bones, and crushing his organs. Not even paying attention to what had happened she immediately turned her attention to the bleeding changeling. She never noticed the door being blown off or the rest of the team filing into the room surrounding the disfigured body of the shooter on the floor.

"Raven, what happened? We heard shots and came as soon as we could." It was the voice of her older brother figure Cyborg. She turned to look at him not knowing what to say, it was then that she finally noticed the man with the gun. She instantly knew it was her fault that he was lying there dead, knowing that she shouldn't have come without testing the full extent of her powers first. It was then that she noticed the look on Robin's face.

"Raven, what happened? You need to tell us what happened." The tone of his voice told her that he was accusing her of something. That he knew she had been the one to kill him. That maybe things weren't going to be alright.

"I didn't notice him, Beast Boy jumped in front of me and took the shots before I could raise a shield. I tried to subdue him, but with the recent boost in power I had and not having done enough training with it, it was too strong. I didn't mean to kill him, I only meant to contain him so he could be arrested." By the time she had finished explaining this to the team, tears had started running freely down her face. From the looks that the team was giving her she was worried what they thought of her now.

Cyborg was the first to speak. "I don't think we should be doing this here let's get this thing wrapped up and head back to the tower. No need airing our dirty laundry here." Robin looked at him as if he had just grown an extra head. "No. we need to address what happened now so that we have something to tell the police and the press." Robin retorted.

"Tell them that he shot BB and that she retaliated. She felt that he was a danger to her and her injured teammate." Cyborg said brushing off the tone of his sometimes over bearing leader. He turned and picked up Beast Boy. "I'm heading back to the tower, Rae come on I'll need your help to finish getting him back to full health." With that they both headed out to the T-Car and headed home.

It was a few days later that Beast Boy had actually woke up. Quietly groaning as he tried to sit up. "Ugh. What the hell happened to me?" the voice of the resident empathy followed his question, "You were shot. Three days ago in the bank robbery. You've been in the tower infirmary ever since." It was at that moment that she heard Cyborg's voice over the intercom, "Rae, BB, you better get down here." They looked at each other wondering why there was such urgency in his voice.

As they arrived in the common room they notice the news being shown on the TV. "…and that brings us to this latest development from the bank robbery thwarted by the Teen Titans three days ago. There has been new evidence brought to our attention on the death of one of the thieves. It appears that when the initial autopsy report came back it was inconclusive as to the cause of death aside. Today a package arrived in the studio and the footage that should be on your screen now was from the manager's office of the bank." The newscaster's image was replaced by security camera footage from the bank. It showed Beast Boy getting shot and Raven retaliating, instantly killing the shooter. The screen turned back to the news studio. "What you have just viewed ladies and gentleman, was one of the Teen Titans killing a person in retaliation to injuring her teammate. I don't know if that should be a good thing knowing that they would do that for a teammate or a bad thing that we now have to fear they have gotten more powerful and thinking that they are above the law." The screen blew up before the newscaster could say anything else.

Eyes immediately turned to the empath. It was then that Robin hung up the phone and turned back to his team. "That was the commissioner. He's demanding we turn Raven over at the behest of the thief's family. I have no other choice Raven, I'm sorry." As he moved to place the cuffs on her wrists Beast Boy stepped in front of her. "No way man. I'm not going to let you turn her over because someone was killed on the job. It's a possibility of the act they were committing. They chose to rob the bank and shoot me, she acted in the way that she thought was best! I'm not going to let you do arrest her for something she couldn't control." He was angry. Angry that Robin they're leader was trying to arrest one of them for something they couldn't control. It was then that Cyborg stepped in, "Now y'all need to calm down no one is going to be arrested. Bird brain you just need to calm down, there's no need to do this and you know it. What's the worst that they could do to us anyways?"

The boy wonder just looked at him, analyzing the way he and Beast Boy were standing, defensive postures, just waiting for him to try something. "What's the worst they could do!? We would become untrustworthy they could destroy our public image! We would be see as if we thought we were above the law. On top of that if we don't turn her over the commissioner said that he would send the AMU (Anti-Meta Unit) to the tower to arrest her and us for interfering with a police investigation! I'm only looking out for what's best for the team." The mood in the tower became sullen, they could see how he was looking at this situation. As a super hero not as a leader or their friend.

"There is no way that they could get into the tow-" It was then that raven blasted out with her power knocking everyone across the room. "I'm not going to be taken away. I'll leave the team but I won't be imprisoned for something I told you was not my fault." Her face now wet with tears that just wouldn't stop. "I'll leave my home for something like this to preserve your precious public image." With that she vanished from the common room.

Beast boy knew her destination, knew she would retreat to her room and he rushed off to hopefully convince her to not go to stay and let them protect her. Arriving at her room her knocked, "Rae? Please talk to me. You don't have to leave. We won't let Robin turn you in." he received no answer just the cold steel of the door and the hum of the air conditioner. As he went to knock again the door swished open revealing the girl in question. She looked at him with bloodshot eyes and tear streaks marring her face, "I have to leave Gar, there's no other way around it. I'm sorry for this." With that she used her power to knock him unconscious. Teleporting him to his room she headed for the roof.

"I thought I would find you up here." She spun seeing Robin already up there on the other side of the roof. "You know I can't just let you leave like that. I'm sorry Raven but I have to think about what is best for the team." As he was talking to her he steadily getting closer to her hoping to be able to use the power dampener on her. When she turned around to launch herself into the air he sprung. Launching the dampener at her as she lifted off he figured that she wouldn't be able to react quick enough, but he was wrong. She heard him launch and she reacted, throwing up her shield with enough power to deflect it back at him. While he was distracted with the dampener she took the moment to fly off into the sky moving rapidly hoping that Robin wouldn't be able to follow her movements.

By the time that he got the dampener under control she was long gone and he knew that there was no use trying to track her. Heading back down to the common room to at least attempt to track her down maybe he could find some kind of astral path of some sorts. As he entered the room the only other person in the room was Starfire and he could tell that she was not in the mood to deal with him at the moment. He continued to the console as Cyborg entered the room, "Yo man that was a low blow there. Saying that you have to look out for what's best for the team. That's total bullshit! You know as well as I do that there's not a damn thing they could do to get her. Not as long as my systems are hooked to the tower." He was furious with the spiky headed leader. Robin merely brushed it off, and it made Cyborg livid. "Don't brush me off, man. What's the real reason why you let this happen? Would it kill you to actually talk to someone?"

Robin spun around at that last comment, "What so you think that I'm just thinking about me? If this hits like I think it will then we will all be out of a home. Some sacrifices must be made to keep this city safe. What do you think would happen if we were forced out of the city because people assume that we think we're above the law?! Sometimes I have to look at this team as more than a fam-" he wasn't able to finish his sentence as a cybernetic fist connected with his jaw. He looked up from where he was knocked to the ground, glaring at Cyborg. "What the hell is your problem!? Do you think this is a game?" he was furious to think that one of his team would attack him for trying to save the team from being homeless or worse imprisoned all together in a maximum security prison.

"Look there's no way that I would let anybody take my family away from me. Not again." Cyborg was furious at his leader. He knew that there was no way anyone could overpower Raven. Not since she gained full control of her powers. Robin knew what Cyborg was talking about but he would have none of it, "You know that she already left don't you I know you have sensors all over the tower. If we track her we may be able to bring her back and hopefully get this all straightened out." Robin was now trying to pull Cyborg over to his side of things. Cyborg just looked at him, "Man, as far as I'm concerned this is over. I'll stay here at the tower and still be a part of the team, but I'm not going to consider you family. Not since you're letting this happen." With that Cyborg turned and stormed off to his room, intent on not letting the spiky haired little gnome get to him anymore. He hoped that raven found the care package he had left on her bed, she would need all the help she could get to stay out of the vision of Robin.

Pulling herself out of her reverie she finally took notice of the shadow in front of her, praying that it was Beast Boy. As she neared the shadow an explosion rocked the forest. She was thrown back against one of the trees, as she lost her vision she noticed the black and blue uniform of Nightwing stalking towards her.

By the time that the explosion went off Changeling had noticed the shadow of the girl he was waiting for approaching the end of the forest. The explosion that came from behind him informed him that he was followed. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. He saw Nightwing stalking towards the shadow and he knew he had to stop him. Morphing into a cheetah he shot forward intent on taking down his leader gone mad. Roaring as he hit his target he morphed back just as he hit the back of his Nightwing's legs, "What the fuck do you think you're doing!" he was beyond pissed off now. Nightwing responded with a headbutt and a kick to the stomach. "You have aided a fugitive of the law and for I'm going to have bring you both in. There's no way I'm going to let her walk away again."

Changeling looked at him, eyeing his new opponent. "No one is going anywhere with you. Over the last few years you have gone absolutely insane! There is no reason to have to do this! We were family once, you were like my brother. The family I never and because you wanted to preserve your fucking image so much you let that cloud your judgment and not be able to save this team. You doomed the team from that first moment five years ago. If you're going to arrest someone then you have to arrest the entire rest of the team. We all helped Raven leave."

As he finished snuck a punch into Nightwing's face instantly breaking his nose and rendering him unconscious. Leaving him behind he rushed to wear he saw Raven land, swooping in as a pterodactyl and grabbing her with his talons, lifting her off to where they were supposed to meet Cyborg. As Nightwing came around the only thing he saw was a green pterodactyl flying off into the sky with the wayward Titan with him, cursing the fact that she had gotten away from him again. Infuriated with the fact that his team helped her get away last time and this time.

End chapter 1.

A/N: This is hopefully the first of many chapters to Exodus. If you found this acceptable please leave me comments, reviews, flames, or constructive criticism, all are welcome.

TheSwiftOne.


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